It was, at this point, expected amongst everypony that, whenever Twilight Sparkle called them all together, it wasn't for anything good. And so it was that Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had all been gathered, standing there in the middle of the main chamber of the Library. Many of them were nervous about what their friend had called them here for. Others, like Applejack, were instead focusing on the presence of a certain blue unicorn mare, who was trying to read a magical tome in the corner while attempting to avoid the earth pony's gaze. Needless to say, this didn't work, as the two mares’ bitter experience with one another still seemed to be at the forefront at their minds. Thankfully for Trixie, it was here that Twilight finally arrived, coming down the stairs with Spike close behind her. All of them turned to her, looking at the serious look on her face, and knew one thing; this wasn't going to be good. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Twilight looked to each of her friends, sighing before turning to Spike, who was holding a scroll in his claws.

"I'm sure all of you have noticed the massive pillar of smoke rising from the nearby mountain. As much as I don't want to worry you...that smoke is coming from a dragon."

That revelation sent the immediate plethora of reactions that Twilight expected. All of them seemed shocked by this news, none more so than Fluttershy, who immediately darted behind Rainbow Dash and hid under her tail, much to the cyan pegasus' annoyance. Twilight took on a look of concern at this display. She'd always be afraid of them. Even after experiencing them as many times as she did...that fear will never truly leave her. Taking a deep breath, Twilight turned to the scroll in Spike's claws, using her magic to levitate it so that it was now hovering right in front of her.

"This message came from Princess Celestia not long ago. She's tasked the six of us to go up there and deal with the problem."

Upon hearing that, there was a wide variety of expressions. Fluttershy, as expected, seemed even more fearful than before. Pinkie was excited, much like she was about everything, while Rarity seemed to have a genuine concern about this task. As for Rainbow and Applejack, they gave each other a smirk before turning to Twilight, Rainbow speaking up first.

"Heck yeah! The chance to take on a fire-breathing dragon! Count me in! Think of the fame! Think how awesome it'll be to..."

"You're not coming."

Everypony there stood still, utterly silenced by Twilight's declaration. They looked to her, seeing the steel in her eyes, and knew immediately that she wasn't joking about this. As they looked to each other, it was clear to all of them that there was little room for negotiation on this matter. However, Applejack tried regardless.

"But...ain't this a task from Celestia herself? We can't just refuse her!"

Twilight’s eyes narrowed at that.

"Yes...we can. And we will!"

As usual when the subject of Celestia came up, Twilight looked as if she was furious about something, but, also as usual, her friends could not fathom why. They looked to each other, perhaps silently hoping one of them would come forward and try to talk her out of this course she'd chosen. And as they did this, Twilight's mind was racing. These are my friends. The ponies I care about more than any, aside from my own family. I am not willing to let Celestia turn them into her own personal taskforce. She looked down at the ground as she considered her situation. I know that, the first time around, my friends and I were able to deal with the dragon. Well, Fluttershy more than the rest of us. But...I've already changed so much. Things are different from how they were. Perhaps Fluttershy and the rest still have it in them to pull this off if we go together...or perhaps they don't. Regardless, if there's even a chance that the changes I've made will result in them not succeeding, or worse, having the dragon outright attack them...I can't allow them to put themselves in danger like that. Sighing, she looked up at her friends once more.

"While I don't want you coming with me, there is still something important that you can do."

They looked to her, listening intently as she spoke.

"Everypony in Ponyvillle is going to be scared when they see the smoke and realise what's going on. I need you all here to keep things calm while I go up there for the dragon."

Her friends stood there, mouths agape, as they heard that. Even Trixie was shocked after having heard all of this. In time, and after a great deal of uncomfortable silence, it was, of all ponies, Fluttershy who spoke up.

"You’re...you're still going up there? Without us?!"

Twilight nodded, her face still one of grim determination. Aghast at that, Rarity chimed in herself.

"Darling! I don't mean to sound rude, but...are you insane?!"

The lavender unicorn shook her head at that.

"No. Trust me when I say that I’ve thought this through."

Rainbow let out a dry laugh at that before adding her own voice to the mix.

"Seriously?! Look, Twi, I now you have all that awesome magic and junk, but do you really think you can hold your own against a bucking dragon?!"

Twilight turned to her Pegasus friend, her face still as serious as ever.

"Yes...I can."

There was something in her voice, something about the way she'd spoken those words that sent a shiver, not just down Rainbow's spine, but everypony else's too. Twilight looked away from a brief moment, looking out of the window. Sure enough, the smoke was still rising from the top of the mountain. I'm hoping diplomacy will work this time. If not...then I know I'll be ready for the alternative. However, her attention was drawn to her friends once more, as Applejack cleared her throat, looking just as serious as Twilight was.

"Begging yer pardon, Twilight...but nopony in history has ever taken on a dragon without at least a small army behind them! And you'll be on yer own out there!"

Twilight opened her mouth to reply to that, only to be stopped when she started to hear some sort of commotion outside. Turning, she saw, through the window, that several mares and stallions out in the street had stopped in their tracks, looking upwards in awe at something. Realisation crossed her face as she turned back to her friends, breaking into a small smile.

"No...I won't be."

The other look at her with confusion before, to their surprise, she began to race outside. After looking to each other, they soon followed, as did Spike and Trixie. Once outside, they all looked to see that Twilight, much like everypony else, was staring up into the sky. They turned, looking in the same direction as the others, and when they did, their eyes widened with shock. For there, heading straight to Ponyville, was a collection of about six golden chariots, pulled by members of the royal guard themselves. The ponies of Ponyville watched in awe as the proud stallions made landing, wherein it was revealed that, not only were there pegasi pulling the chariots, but that there were also members of the royal unicorn platoons within them. Overall, there seemed to be over a dozen of the guard present here. Needless to say, the unannounced arrival of numerous armed guards in Ponyville sent everypony into a frenzy of chatter amongst themselves. As for Twilight’s friends, they turned to their lavender companion, seeing the smile upon her face, and knew, deep down, that she had something to do with this.

However, before they had the chance to ask her about all this, they watched as she began to approach one of the chariots. Like all the others, there were several unicorn stallions disembarking from the thing, but one of them noticeably stood out from the rest. He was larger than the others, clad in distinct purple armour, with bright white fur and a blue mane. He scoured the area, looking around for something, and when he caught sight of Twilight, he broke out into a smile. The two ponies began to approach one another, and when they came to within about a metre of one another, the stallion saluted.

"Reporting for duty, Ma'am!"

Twilight smiled and giggled a little at this display, but before she could open her mouth to reply, she soon noticed that she was surrounded by all of her friends, all of whom were giving her clear looks of "what they hay is going on here?" She opened her mouth to speak, but Rarity interrupted her, whispering in her ear while keeping her eyes on the guard's leader.

"Twilight! Where in Equestria did you manage to find a fine guard stallion like that?!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that, but was once more interrupted, as Rainbow took position on the other side of her, whispering just like Rarity.

"Seriously, this guy is hot!"

Yet again, Twilight was taken aback by those words, and looked around to see that all the rest of her friends seemed to be similarly enamoured with the stallion to one degree or another. In fairness, Shining always did come off as the kind of fairy tale knight young fillies dream of. Still, consider yourselves lucky his marefriend didn't hear that. Letting out a groan of annoyance at all this, Twilight stepped forward, breaking free of the hold her friends had on her and walking towards the stallion, who had lowered his hoof from the salute. Twilight took a position right next to him and pointed a hoof to him before addressing her friends.

"Girls, this is Shining Armour. Captain of the royal guard...and my brother."

The mares all stared at her, seeing the clear “keep your hooves off him” look on her face. At this point, they were no doubt remembering what she'd told them about having a brother in the royal guard, and in time, they all looked more than a little embarrassed about having said what they'd said, with Rainbow being the one to voice what they were all thinking.

"Well...this is awkward."

Shaking her head at that, Twilight turned to her brother, and the two siblings smiled warmly at one another before embracing in a hug.

"It's good to see you, Twily," Shining remarked.

Twilight giggled at that.

"You too, BBBFF."

Upon hearing his old nickname, Shining chuckled heartily, before parting from his sister, the latter turning to her friends.

"These are the friends I've been telling you about in my letters. Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy...and Trixie."

Shining looked to all of them, giving a smile and a nod to all of them, which they returned in kind. When it came to Trixie, however, he regarded her more carefully, having been made fully aware of the circumstances in which they met. Nevertheless, he gave her just as warm a smile and nod as he had for the others, with the blue mare chuckling nervously before waving a little in return. With the greetings over and done with, Shining turned to his troops, raising a hoof and pointing to a nearby clearing. They saluted in kind before making their way over, lining up as if for inspection. Shining walked over to them, looking ready to give some kind of motivational speech, all while Twilight stood there and watched. In time, she looked back to her friends, who were glancing at her with a great deal of concern. Wanting nothing more than to make them feel comfortable, Twilight put on a reassuring smile for them.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

They still looked concerned, but nevertheless smiled in return. However, as Twilight looked towards the mountain, seeing the smoke still fuming from the top, her smile faded.

But the dragon? Not so much.